3 answers

1

All of the definitions I read said that a pronoun can be an object compliment, but I never found an example and can't think of one. The closest I can come to is a possessive pronoun, but it doesn't follow the direct object.

An object complement follows an object and clarifies what the transitive verb converted that direct object into.

Let's say I want to get across that I made the coffee strong this morning.

If I just said "I made the coffee.", I have simply shown that I made the coffee, not the intended change of state.

"I made the coffee (strong)." 'Strong' follows the direct object "coffee" and shows the change of state.

Although I agree with Mr. Neidhardt that using a pronoun object complement is awkward, it is not inconceivable.

For example, how could we express that a machine which does sex-change operations has made a man into a woman?

"The machine made him a her."

In this case, 'the machine' is the subject, 'made' is the verb, 'him' is the direct object being acted upon, but 'her' is a pronoun object complement clarifying the change of state.

Oh, and if that example is too far-fetched or religiously unpleasant to you,

Every once in a while a baby is born with both sets of sexual organs, so the parents are made to choose an organ for their child, "We made our baby a him." "We made our baby a her." Sorry, I am stubborn--I guess I could create a different example!

In this case, they didn't just "make the baby", they made the baby a "her" or "him".

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God (teehee), I just know some religious person here is going to flip--let me give another example:

Sanjay is a rock star. I am his agent. Sanjay is trying to leave me.

I respond, "SANJAY, YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!!!! I MADE YOU A SOMEBODY."

'I' = subject

'made' = verb

'you' = direct object being acted upon

'a somebody' = object complement clarifying the change of state (note that 'somebody' is a pronoun as requested).